Conveying systems are well known in the art and have any number of useful applications, such as the transportation of objects in various stages of manufacturing, storage, and shipping. Typical conveying systems utilize a flat conveying belt, generally formed of interconnected links, driven by motors that engage with the conveyor belt. Sometimes belts made of such links are also called chains. Such conveying systems are commonly employed in the transportation of manufactured goods and articles. With these typical systems, the motor drives a toothed drive sprocket that engages with complimenting driving recesses or “dogs” formed on the conveyor belt.
Link type conveyor belts are sometimes designed in a knuckle/socket joint arrangement wherein one end of the link is a rounded knuckle and the opposite end is a socket formed by two extending edges. The knuckle of one link fits into the socket of a neighboring link. The knuckle is able to move in various directions within the socket, which allows for the conveyor system as a whole to curve and move.
The interconnected links typically have a platform member connected to or formed at the link's upper surface. The platform member is generally shaped to match the neighboring platform members on other links such that the links can turn while moving around curved sections of the conveying system, yet are also shaped such that the cracks and spaces formed between the links are minimized. The platform members can be connected to the links in several different ways. For instance, the platforms may have pegs extending therefrom which match corresponding slots on the links. Alternatively or additionally, the platforms can have snap springs which lock into place on corresponding sections of the links. Such a knuckle link with a snap-on platform surface member is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,209,716.
The platform surface member on the conveyor links of that patent has a substantially flat upper surface with no substantially vertical end walls. Such structure works well for most conveyances. U.S. Pat. No. 6,601,697 discloses an alternate platform with vertical walls in the form of a rail member. Such end walls can be useful in preventing articles from shifting laterally, especially due to tangential or centrifugal forces when going around bends and/or travelling non-horizontally.
Some conventional “drink boxes” are made of sheets of material that are folded and welded or glued together to form a box shape. U.S. Pat. No. 7,032,810, entitled “Sealed Package for Pourable Food Products,” shows such a drink box in FIG. 4. Such drink boxes have been successfully introduced and are in great use in many countries worldwide. The description of such drink box (“package 15”) of that patent is incorporated herein. As shown therein, the bottom of the box includes a widthwise seal and triangular side edges folded inward. The boxes are often slightly concave on the bottom side, with the four corners of the bottom comprising points that extend the furthest downward. It can be sometimes more difficult to handle and convey such slightly irregular drink boxes than it would be, for example, to handle and convey a flat bottomed box with no seals, edges, or concavities on the bottom side. Such difficulties can manifest themselves in particular when conveying at high speeds and/or around bends.